Tag Archives: Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade

Thursday, July 2, 1863, was clear and warm, according to Spartan Band diarist William H. Hill: “General Lee brought all of his forces up this morning in front of the enemy. Both parties skirmished all the morning.” Barksdale’s Brigade could … Continue reading →

This is the official painting from the online site of the Mississippi State Archives, from Humphreys’ brief tenure as Mississippi’s twenty-sixth governor immediately after the war, which has a curious history. He was a wealthy Delta planter and slave owner who … Continue reading →

Well, it’s undoubtedly a good thing that the Civil War Trust wants to save Harper’s Ferry. Or, at least, thirteen acres of it. And it’s also a good thing that hikers are keeping the Maryland Heights 200 feet above the town as nice as … Continue reading →

Union Captain Andrew Joseph Russell took this photograph of a portion of Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade in Fredericksburg on April 8, 1863. They were posing for Russell— said to be the first official U.S. Army photographer—at the town end of a … Continue reading →

“Monday. Heavy rain last night, raining again today. Our wagon trains commenced crossing the Potomac at Williamsport, Maryland, this morning.” So wrote Spartan Band diarist William H. Hill on July 13, 1863. The 13th Regiment had left their rifle pits … Continue reading →

Spartan Band diarist Will H. Hill wrote in his diary on Saturday, July 11, 1863, that the brigade had moved two miles north towards Hagerstown. They were shoveling up fortifications and digging rifle pits to defend against an expected Union … Continue reading →

On Tuesday, July 7, another day of rain, the Mississippi Brigade was ordered out on picket duty at Downsville, Maryland, four miles southeast of Williamsport on the swollen Potomac River. The pontoons over their intended crossing at Falling Waters had … Continue reading →

Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade’s division commander Gen. Lafayette McLaws wrote his wife, Emily, from his Hagerstown, Maryland headquarters on Tuesday, July 7. “Since I wrote you last we have had a series of terrible engagements out of which God has permitted … Continue reading →